Furniture brace



Patented Apr. 30,1929. '7 I it Q 1,710,911

UNTED STATES mnnononn-ni WI'I'TLIFF, or CLEVELA D, oiiio,

FURNITURE BRACEU Application filed May 3, 1926. Scarlet-1T0.- 166,1132! This invention as indicated relates to a means of a wrenchlor snn lar.devieema be" furniture brace. "More particularly it intensioned from time' to'timeto maintain the cludes a furniture brace adapted to. secure seating,- equipment in?satisfactorily ig'ic'l: to an intermediate body portion,members condition. I 1 or 5 extending at an angle with respect thereto. Another object of my invention isto pro-e The device especially useful insecuring; Vide a simplebracing ineaiis which .i'naybe, the back frame and the leg section of chair applied to. chairs now in use or which-may] to the seat portion thereof. 7 4 be supplied to furnitureunanufacturers a In eopending applications, (Serial No. small expense for original,equipment}an A 10 25,341, filed April 23, 1925, and Serial No. which will serveto .drawthe back and leg 65. 25,342, filed April 23, 1925), I have illuaportions Oran chair toward 'theseatipor. trated a number of. methods of securing the tion thereof". Another object of the 'invenf v leg portions of a chair or similararticle of tion is to: provide a fulniture brace whichi furniture to the body portion thereof, but may be readily adjusted as requi'recbwlieir in such disclosures, no cooperation with. a the glue or otherfasteningrmeans used in securing member for an upwardly projectthe manufacturing of such; furniture tdries ing frame structure was set forth. In the out and theparts deyeloplost inotion and present intention several constructions comthe structure becomes unsafe or unsatisfac-f bining a leg tensioning device with a back tory for use; A} further objet'it Of itll e in i 2 tensioning deviceare illustrated, butit to vention is to"p1:oyide1simple and impro d i's,

be understood that the forms shown are not parts for enacting..win1 flexib1e tensioning. to be regarded as in any way limiting the elements tohold; theI- upper andnlso, the: u character of the leg. portion of the device lower frame portions'of-'aichair or iotherffl i but that I may use features of the legbraces article of furniture in rigid relation to each heretofore illustrated in so far as may be other. "Other and furtherobjects of theiin- 80 found desirable inconibination with a back vention will appeariin the course; ofathe brace as herein claimed. I following description. I [To thei'abcomplish In large industrial establishments, par ment of the foregoinga-nfl relatedendsfsaid ticularly in garlnent factories and the like, invention, then consists of the meansihere wherein operators'at-sewing machines re inafter fully described. and particul 1y I quire chairs in their daily work, it is found pointed out in the claims: c, L that such chairs are 'moved about the floor The annexed drawing and the fdll'owing and subjected to various stresses and rapidly descriptionset 'forth in detail-certain develop lost motion in both the leg sections anism embodying the invention, such d1 35. and back sections It entails considerable closed means constituting, howeyer;-- but one not expense to maintain the chairs in'a safe con of variousmechanical :forms "in which the dition for use and many replacements are principle ofthe invention may used necessary. As a means for Improving the; :lnsaid annexed drawm g seating units for such. establishments'it has F'g. l is a rear 'eleyat on of a' chair 40 been attempted to provide integralxhietal' equipped with bmcingnneahs embodying- 755).

chairs, but such equipment is expensive and theprinciples of'my inv ntion; Fi 2 i's'a cannot be as readily; repaired as wooden side elevation-of a cha' similar to that g chairs. Furthermore, it is heavier and not shownin Fig. 1;-Fig 3f islaplan view partlyffi as acceptable to theworkers as the standard. in section, of -the seatf portion ofthe. chair 1 wooden chairs heretoforeused. To a oerillustratedin 2, taken" alongi'theline b I tain extent it has been the practice to string shown in Fig.12,"looking inthefdirec 5 wires'across theleg'sections of the wooden tion of. the arrowspFigi'isaa view in' 'e' 4* chairs, but no takeup means hasheretofore larged perspective," showinggthe guideand i been provided andthe wires soon become'of securing plate and the tensioningdevice'fil I so o ffect. x lustrat'ed in Figsgi'l,- 2' and3 Fig. his; a 05 The principalobject of the present inven plan yiew of a fplate showing a modified tion is to provide a braeingmeans for stand form of attaching theiflexible.members; Fig. l ard woodenchairs which" willprevent the 6 is an enlarged vertical sectional tiiew f development of lost motion in either. the showing the metllodofffastening 'mypre back or leg portions thereof and which by ferred f(nan..of plate under the seat of a chair; Figs. 7 and 8 are 1nodifled forms of tensioning bolts adapted for use with the several forms of furniture braces illustrated; and Fig. 9 is a trag- Inentary perspective view showing a tensioning plate wherein flexible straps are used in place of flexible cables.

As clearly shown in Figs. 1 and of the drawing, my preferred form'of chair brace is applied to astandard wooden seat chair having a heavy seat portion 1, at the rearward upper side of which a bow-shaped back member 2 is mounted in sockets formed in the upper portion oil said seat and a plurality of spindles 8 are engaged at their r'c spective ends within sockets formed in said.

bow-shaped member and seat portion re-' spectively. The seatsupported upon legs L engaged in sockets adjacent the re spective corners of the seat on its under side. Said legs are provided with the usual cross braces 5 engaged at their respective ends in sockets at a point adjacent the central portion of such legs. 1

The bow-shaped member of? the back provided at spaced points, preferably slightly outside of the outer spindles, with a pair of aperturesfi, 7, to receive a flexible member 8, such as a wire which is adapted to lie on the upper face of said bow'shapcd member or to be received in a groove formed in said upper face. The respective ends of said wire. extend downwardly through spaced apertures 9, 10 in the bottom of said seat, at a point preferably in lateral alignment with said spindles, and their free ends are secured to the bottom of the seat at a central point by means of a fastening plate 11. The fastening plate as moreclearly shown in Fig. -1- ol the drawing has T0111. screw holes 12, and a longi tuilimrlly extending channelway 13 provided. by displacing the metal downwardly upon the central line thereof. Said channelway is of a size to receive and trictionally engage the ends of the flexible member as is shown in Fig. (5. The extreme ends i i olf said flexible member [)JfOjGCl? from the plate and. are turned downwardly in the manner shown in Fig. el to :liurther prevent the withdrawal oi? said member from beneath said plate whentension is applied to an adjacent part of said flexible member. The plate is :l'ornied at one on d with an extension 10 at right angles to the body portion and has a slot 16 through which intermediate portions of the flexible member are engaged thus .torming a pair of loops 1? in the manner clearly shown in 4.

A pair of flexible members 18 formed of Wire or equivalent material are connected with. opposite pairs oi legs of the chair either by forming loops 19 onthe ends of said wires adapted to engage hooks 20 fee toned in said legs at the inner sides thereof,

9 which loops are of a size to engage over the bottom ends of the legs and slide upwardly thereon until stopped by a crosineinher or by a snug lit with the tapered lower portion of the respective legs. The flexible members connected with the legs have their central portions ongagwl over a plate 521 having its ends 22 turned up wardly to receive the same. The plate is provided with a central aperture 23 adapted to permit the passage of the shank oi a tens-soiling bolt 24.

The bolt in. the preferred form of: cous-alruction is provided with a head 9:") which bears against a plate 26 sin'lilar to that just described which cin'itrally apertured and has downwardly turned portions 27 which engage over the loop sections 17 oil tlc upper bracing member heretofore described. ll nut 28 is secured to the screwtl graded and of the bolt and by adjusting said nut by means of a suitable wrench any desired degree o'l. tension may be applied to the respective flexible members.

In place of the standard bolt having a head, oi a type just described, a bolt 31 having an elongated head 32 provided with a pair oil parallel apertures as is shown in Fig. 7, may be used. Or a bolt 3% having an upper terminal of the character shown in Fig. 8 may be used wherein. oppositely directcd hooks 35 are formed at one end.

In place of wires or cables, it may be found desirable to employ metal straps ll of the cha actor illustrated in Fig. 9. Such straps are preferably formed of. light strip metal engaged through slots 4-2 angularly disposed adjacent each of: the cut-away corners of a lower tensioning plate and have a loop a?) adapted to extend about the lower portion of the leg of the chair. Similar straps may be applied to the bow-member of the back of a chair, the loops being adapted to extend about the bow member preferably just inside of the outer spindles and the straps passing di'iwnwardly and through side slots. at the bottom of the chair.

Instead of using a'iastening and guide plate of the type shown in Fig. 4, I may provide a plate 51 of the character illustrated in Fig. 5 wherein the central longi-.

tudinal channelway is dispensed with and a pair of diverging grooves 52 terminating short slots 5?) are formed adjacent one end. The respective end portions of the flexible member 8 are laid in said grooves and the extreme ends of said member are engaged through the slots and bent to form hooks 54 which assist in preventing said end portions being withdrawn under tension.

\Vhile the drawings and description have specifically forth only a chair construction it is to be understood that it is not intended thereby to in any Way restrict the invcntion to use with that particular article of furniture, as substantially the sainebraces may he need to make more rigid the mirror supports and lege of a dressing table, and various other articles of furniture may be similarly braced.

Other modes of applying the principle of my invention may be employed instead of the one explained, change being made as regards the mechanism herein disclosed, provided the means stated by any ot the following claims or the equivalent of such stated means be employed.

I therefore particularly point out and dis tinctly claim myinventlonz 1. In an article of the character described, the combination ol a body portioinan np wardly extending back bow and frame structure associated with said body portion, a downwardly extending frame structure associated with said body portion, bracing means in the form of a closed loop connecting eaid upper frame structure with said body portion, and engaged above and looped through said back bow andsecured to said body and providing a pair of tensioning portions beneath said body bracing means a'ttached to said" downwardly extending, frame struct-nre and means adapted to si-' Inultaneonsly apply tension to each of said bracing means beneath saidbodyportion.

2. A chair havingn solid seat provided ;v

with sockets in the upper and lower sides; thereof, a back member mounted 111' the sockets, on the uppe" side of said seat, leg

members mounted in the sockets on the low: 7 or side oi said seat,a combined gnidel-andg.

er SKle" fastening member secured to the und of said, seat, flexible'fjbrac ngflevi gaged with sai'd ba ck member and-with said it gu de and fastening 'melnber, flex1bl""bracing members connected atpoi nts spaced from said seat with the respect ve leg members and a tensioning member slidably engaged with a portion of said back 'bracing member :ufljacont said guide andxlaetening 'ineinber and with the flexible bracing members for said leg members tosiinultaneously draw said back member and, said leg members toward said seat. Y

Signed by me this 16th day of April, 1926,

, nnononn WITTLIEF. ,1 

